I glance at the door just to know that it's still there.
I texted Dawn to come meet me here but there's no telling what she might do if she figures it out on her way somehow. She could lock us in here or change things without us knowing it. And even if she doesn't and she makes it here the way we asked, there's no telling what she's going to do when she gets here. If she walks through the door she's going to see that something's off and that could end badly for us.
Especially since it went so badly for us last time. We thought if we let her out we could convince her not to do what she ended up doing. There's no reason to assume that it wouldn't end the same way this time. We just have to hope that once she sees that we found a way around what she did, that we could do it again and that makes her stop.
But there's no guarantee of any of that. Which is what makes this so dangerous. Dawn holds all the cards. We just have to hope that she doesn't figure it out and we get the jump on her.
"She's coming right?"
Looking up at B, I take a deep breath.
"She said she was. But with the way she does things, I don't know if she will. Or what she might be showing up with."
"We'll just have to take the chance."
"Take a chance on what?"
Just then, Dawn walks in to see us standing on the other side of the seal. B and I look at each other.
"On whoever is screwing with the hellmouth."
She gets this curious look on her face. B points out the blood on the seal that we put there. She starts to look it over, examining it.
"We think that someone's trying to open up the hellmouth again. It might be worth worrying about."
There's a long silence between the three of us. Eventually she looks at me.
"You know, don't you?"
I give her a curious look.
"Know what babe?"
She takes a deep breath, rolling her eyes.
"Even after all this time, you're still treating me like a child. Like someone who needs to be treated with kid gloves."
B and I look at each other.
We probably shouldn't give anything away just yet.
"That was part of the whole point of creating all this. For you to stop treating me as if I need to be controlled and told what to do. But even after everything, you just can't help yourself, can you?"
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm not an idiot. I'm not just a girl anymore. I haven't been for a long time. But you just keep talking about me like I am. I specifically made this whole world so that no one would be interested in the hellmouth unless I wanted them to. Literally no one, even a demon or The First or anything. The only way anyone would want to do something with the hellmouth, is if they weren't following the rules. So... let's try this again."
She crosses her arms over her chest, defensively.
"You know, don't you?"
I guess there's no reason not to be honest.
Kinda mirroring my girlfriend/ex, I cross my arms over my chest and get defensive.
"Yes, we do."
B shifts to being defensive too.
"What the hell did you do?"
She scoffs at the question.
"I made a better world. The kind of world that you always wanted."
She really doesn't expect us to believe that?
"One where I'm nothing but your little plaything? Where I do whatever you want, whenever you say, no matter what I want instead?"
"It's better than being completely at the mercy of a demon. Living life always waiting for the next evil to come along and kill everyone. Our whole lives revolving around a crazy sociopath."
"So it's better if our whole lives revolve around you?"
She gets an angry look on her face.
"Are you calling me a crazy sociopath?"
Might as well just come right out and say it.
"If the shoe fits."
Her angry look gets darker than I've ever seen her look.
"Well, then, let's dance."
She snaps her fingers.
"Willow?"
Willow?
Just then, Red comes in from behind Dawn, almost like she's on autopilot.
"Do it."
Do what?
Willow throws out her hands, one at me and the other at B. Suddenly, I'm off my feet and flying backwards, the pain of hitting the wall, stunning me and pinning me there.
What the hell was that?
B's the first to say anything.
"What the hell Will?"
I try to get off the wall but it's like something is holding me there. Looking up at Willow, she's got a hand out to me.
She's using magic on us?
"I... I don't... know... I... I can't... stop myself."
What does she mean by that?
Dawn laughs out loud.
"Just like I planned."
Like she planned?
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